Printing on Roll Paper and getting super curly prints?

[jtoolman]

I was watching the The Luminous Landscape " From Camera to Print " DVD and at some point during the long presentation a print was created on a large printer using roll paper and of course it was so curly is would have probably rolled off the table. The Host went and got his Curl Removing gadget and to tell you the truth, forget the name of it except that it was a ridiculous $225 or something like that.

Being the frugal guy I am I thought, wait a minute, this is just a fancy version of a spring loaded type roll window shade. So I picked one up the local Home Depot for 10 bucks and well, just watch the video.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q8Zj9dtzeU0

 

[websnail]

ROFLMAO...

Brilliant, out of the box thinking... $225 vs' cost of a cheap roller blind... Let me think about that one for a minute or three...

One suggested amendment/improvement... a sheet of clean light weight paper over the top of the print to protect it from anything that may have gotten into the blind during previous uncurling exercises..

Lovely stuff though... thanks for sharing..

 

[jtoolman]

Yes sir!!! The original product if I remember correctly was some sort of fancy canvas like fabric rolled onto Aluminum tubing, fancy end caps and other useless adornments! The vinyl like material of these window shades DO attract dirt and other cooties like a magnet and I've actually experienced impressions of debris transfered onto the print during rolling. So yes it is important to start with a completely clean surface on the shade as well as on the print being treated. I do have some packs of 11x17 Laser printer paper that I rescued from the dumpster from my work place after it closed down, so I'll definitely give your idea a try.

 

[ThrillaMozilla]

You could always try printing on the other side.

 

[PeterBJ]

Maybe the vinyl could be treated with an anti static spray? Like this: http://www.photodon.com/c/Anti-Static-Spray.html

 

[jtoolman]

I've done one semi major modification but I need to really put it through some tests today. If it works, I'll reshoot the demo video.

 

[jtoolman]

Here is my modification to the Curl Remover which I now call 2.0

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VataFqqN-Jo

 

[fotofreek]

Good technique! Many years ago i had custom roller shades made for a room in our home. There were many choices of fabrics that one could select. I also purchased roller shades on which were were able to heat-bond fabric of our choice at home.